Jo Bell: who?

At Festival Hall, National Poetry Day

Jo Bell writes, performs, project-manages and generally works in poetry across the UK. It’s a ridiculous way to make a living, but then so was professional archaeology which is what she did for 18 years beforehand.

“I’m the director of National Poetry Day in the UK; a project manager, producer and promoter; and in 2011 programmed Ledbury Poetry Festival, the UK’s largest, with Jonathan Davidson.

“I’ve been poet in residence for Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Derby Hospital. Collaborations include work on the brilliant Companion Stones project, filmpoems with Alastair Cook, live poetry shows, an atmospheric spoken word show called Riverlands with Jo Blake Cave and engrossing new work with poet Martin Malone. I write poetry shows like Fourpenny Circus, nominated for the Ted Hughes Award in 2010. I am a former Cheshire Poet Laureate and my short, bad play First Person was performed at Chester Literature Festival. With David Calcutt I invented the successful eavesdropping/ writing project Bugged  – the sequel is coming up in 2012 – and I am poetry editor at online journal Word Gumbo.

“I work the spoken word circuit across the UK and abroad including perfomances at Glastonbury, Hay Festival, headline slots at Bang Said the Gun and Rrrants, Stromstad’s Winter Words festival and Paris’ Shakespeare & Co. I have been broadcast on Radio 4. On the page, recent good fortune includes a double commendation in the Wigtown Poetry Competition, shortlisting in the Strokestown International Poetry Competition, a double commendation in the Hippocrates International Prize for Poetry and Medicine, and inclusion in the Templar anthology Bliss, the Red Squirrel anthology Split Screen and forthcoming Bird Book 2 (Fuselit/ Sidekick).

“I grew up around Sheffield and went to school in a mining town. For many years I was a professional archaeologist specialising in industrial archaeology: I still love to work with historic landscapes and documents. I live on a narrowboat (no, it is not cold in the winter) and my first book Navigation drew on that life, as well as on my archaeology work. I lead workshops and online courses, and present poetry evenings themed around gardens, historic events, boats or food. For my upcoming events and courses, look at What’s On.”

I’m always on the look-out for new connections, collaborations and co-conspirators. If you have a bright idea for a new project, drop me a line at jo@jobell.org.uk.